


Patience is Key

by mggislife2789



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: APD, Auditory Processing Disorder, F/M, First Meetings, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 03:38:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13515813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mggislife2789/pseuds/mggislife2789
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their original stories. This is only for fun. It's where my brain goes after the credits roll. No copyright intended. Better safe than sorry. ;)





	Patience is Key

All five of my senses are cool; it’s my brain being an asshole.

If someone asks me one more time if it’s the same thing as being deaf, I’m going to burst.

My hearing is fine - it’s my brain that is unable to process things, leaving words said sounding different to my ears. I can’t tell you how many times I was “bent” in high school and college. My brain made me hear bent when the teacher said we were “presenting.” Basically, it’s like my brain is permanently playing Wheel of Fortune with an incomplete puzzle on the screen – but in hearing form.

It’s still unbelievably frustrating, but after I was diagnosed I was able to make some changes that helped me through school. I’d ask for class notes so I could see the words in front of me. I’d ask to sit in the front row to block out as much excess noise and distraction as possible. I’d take all my tests in an isolated setting and when all else failed, I was able to tell my teachers that I was just plain confused. People tend to talk fast when they’re passionate about something which makes it extra hard for someone like me to understand things, but I was able to advocate for myself and get the diagnosis and help I needed. And I made it through college - woo! Go me! 

You know how I said people tend to talk fast when they’re passionate about something? Well wouldn’t you know I ended up dating the fastest-talker, most passionate geek of them all? His name is Spencer Reid and he works for the FBI; he’s also a giant nerd.

When we first met, I had to be really upfront with my diagnosis because otherwise there was no way this was going to work - but Spencer was really understanding and always took things slowly with me. 

Now I was going to meet his friends. A lot of his friends. All at once. Derek, Emily, JJ, Penelope, Aaron and David. So. Much. Processing. 

I told him I was nervous. “It’s going to be okay,” he said slowly. “I ol my friens abou your A_D and tha they need to be atien.” He was talking fast again. I had to remind him to chill every now and then. 

“Was that you told your friends about my APD and they need to be patient? You were talking fast again.”

“Sorry,” he said, grimacing before giving me a kiss on the forehead. “I just kind of like you a lot so I guess I talk fast when I talk about you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

On the way to the restaurant, I vacillated between anxious and calm. “You told them to speak one at a time, right? Because with all the background noise this is going to be difficult enough as it is.”

“Yea, I told them. And I’ll remind them if they forget.”

Finally, we pulled up to the restaurant. “Oh, I’m so nervous!” Burying my head in his chest, I started to panic. I’m the one who had agreed to a restaurant; I should’ve asked to have this dinner at our apartment or one of their houses. Now I was panicking. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Spencer repeated. 

He kissed my head and smiled. His smile always made me a little calmer. It was then that a blonde with hot pink glasses and heels and a black dress came forward. “You ust e Y/N!” She said excitedly. “I’s so ice o finay ee you!”

“Garcia you have to slow down remember?”

“I’m assuming that was ‘so nice to finally meet you?’” I asked, passing off my originally lack of understanding with a laugh. Sometimes you just had to. 

“Yes, I’m sorry!” She hopped up and down on the balls of her feet as if replacing her speed talking with more kinetic energy. “It’s nice to meet you finally. Spencer talks a lot about you.”

We made our way inside to get a table and immediately noticed the garble of sounds that assaulted my ears when we walked inside. “I as-ed for a able in the orner. Block the noise a bit,” Penelope said.

“Corner table? Thanks.”

The corner table definitely blocked out some of the noise, and with just Penelope there it wasn’t too bad. She talked very slowly, which I could see was against her natural instincts, but she did it anyway with a smile on her face. The nerves evened out until the rest of the gang showed up. “Hi, I’m David Rossi,” the older man said, a warm fatherly smile on his face. “It’s so good to meet you.”

One by one, they all introduced themselves. I only had to ask for clarification once, and Spencer only had to remind JJ and Emily to speak one at a time once, so all in all not too bad. “Can you order for me?” I asked Spencer. “There are a lot of how do you want this and how do you want that so I’d rather not do that in here.”

“Sure. No problem.” He kissed the top of my hair. I felt a shiver roll through me. My APD was no joke, and sometimes it could be really, unbelievably frustrating, but having an understanding family and boyfriend made me feel a lot better. I just hoped that his friends liked me. 

After everyone ordered, the noise seemed to die down in the background. Maybe everyone else was getting their orders so they had their mouths full, but when dessert came around the noise started up again, and it got worse. Spencer had made sure that we got to the restaurant a little earlier, so we could hopefully beat the dinner rush, but everyone had been having such a good time that we went a little longer than anticipated and now the dinner crowd was here and they were really loud. 

Even with Spencer’s friends talking slowly, I couldn’t handle it. My heart started to race. “We need to get out of here ASAP,” I whispered to Spencer. “I can’t here a damn thing anyone’s saying anymore.”

The entire team was very respectful of my processing overload and waited until we had paid the bill to say anything else. “Feeling better?” Morgan asked as we exited the restaurant. 

“Much,” I replied with a laugh. “I probably shouldn’t have agreed to meeting at a restaurant when I was just meeting you all. I wasn’t as open as I normally am because the sound was just driving me nuts.”

Morgan clapped my shoulder softly. “Don’t worry about it, Y/N. As long as you make Pretty Boy happy, we’re all good. Plus, having to talk one at a time actually makes people listen more, at least that’s how I feel. Definitely not a bad thing.”

“I’d never really thought of it that way.” 

Spencer came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my chest, kissing the back of my head. “You okay now?”

“Yea, thanks.”

“We all really enjoyed meeting you,” JJ said. “We were just saying how we haven’t seen Spence this happy in a long time.”

I could feel my boyfriend smiling against the back of my head. “It was great to meet all of you too. Thanks for being so patient with me. Believe me, I know it’s a lot to get used to.”

“For you, I’m sure it is,” Emily said. “But it’s nothing for us. Like Derek was saying, it makes us all listen more.”

Spencer and I said our goodbyes and I gave each of his friends a hug. I had been building up meeting his friends in my mind to the point where I thought it impossible, and although it had been a little overwhelming, I’d say it went pretty well. “So it seems like your friends like me?” I hoped I wasn’t reading things the wrong way.

“They did. I told you everything would be okay.”

“I know. It’s just always nerve-wracking. I can’t tell you how many times I had people get mad at me because I needed them to repeat themselves.”

Spencer opened the car door for me and slipped into the driver’s seat. “The people who got impatient with you suck and aren’t worth your time.”

“True. And I know that now, but as a kid that was much tougher to handle.”

“Yea, kids can suck.”

On the way home, we sat in relative silence, full of food and no radio. We never listened to the radio unless that was the only thing we were doing. Otherwise, too much background noise. By the time we parked the car, I had a few texts from his friends. 

JJ: So awesome to meet you! We need to do a girls’ night one of these days.

E: I saw at dinner that you were a red wine drinker. I think we’re going to get along great.

P: Sorry I got so excited that I talk fast. Just tell me to chill if I do that next time.

I smiled down at my phone. Apparently, things had gone well. “What’s up?” Spencer asked.

Turning the phone around, I showed him the messages from his friends. “Told you.” 

“Yea, yea, yea.” I leaned in and kissed him. We’d been dating for quite a while, but whenever we went through a new experience together, I always felt warm and fuzzy inside. “Thanks for being so awesome.”

“I’m just trying to be a good person,” he replied. “Everyone deserves to be understood.”


End file.
